Maltaran Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 The shooter is apparently an Afghanistan veteran. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosciuszko Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I remember an attempt that didn't go anywhere in 2008 on Obama by some white supremacists. It was busted up in the planning stage IIRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzanth Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Does one teabagger taking it literally change the whole meaning of their rhetoric? Depends on how they respond to this. If Palin et. al. didn't intend anyone to get hurt (and it's possible, as you note we don't see many assassinations in the U.S. these days) then they should back off.Why do you qualify that with "major"? Gabrielle Giffords isn't a "major political figure" unless virtually every member of Congress is.Teabagger rhetoric has always been about hate and violence. Now we are seeing some of them act on it. I certainly think this warrants a change in perception of their movement. Certainly makes the whole thing more scary and tragic in equal measure. And ya, I'd say a member of congress is a major political figure. In other news, apparently the Arizona police arrested a second individual and are looking for a third. If these extra people actually are associated with the attack, it certainly lessens the credibility of the "crazy lone gunman" angle. The federal judge who was murdered had also apparently received death threats from right wing groups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kouran Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 While I for one hope that Giffords pulls through, can we please leave the grandstanding on all sides out of this for now? I mean several people were just murdered. In this day and age of instant news and commentary can we just take a short time to examine the news before we start making accusations and recriminations on either side, and show some basic human decency? I listened to that news article this week on NPR that had Giffords in it, it is truely a tragedy when someone like Rep Giffords gets attacked by anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brude Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 This is supposedly the shooter's YouTube Channel.If so, then based on his intro message video, he's clearly not terribly sane, IMO. The text of the video is pretty politically out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzanth Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 This is supposedly the shooter's YouTube Channel.If so, then based on his intro message video, he's clearly not terribly sane, IMO. The text of the video is pretty politically out there.Its sorta hard to precipitate a political stance from something as garbled as that youtube message. On the other hand, if we were to judge sanity based on the clarity of one's writing a great many college freshmen would have to be classified as totally crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalThor Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 This is supposedly the shooter's YouTube Channel.If so, then based on his intro message video, he's clearly not terribly sane, IMO. The text of the video is pretty politically out there.I was just going to post that link. At the 2:47 mark of the Intro video it gets pretty bizarre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosciuszko Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 So his favorite books include Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto... I see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brude Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 In the second video on the channel there's a lot of stuff about the US currency not being backed by gold as a big problem for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosciuszko Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Yeah, and stuff about religion. Its pretty weird and disjointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Greguh Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Now that I've had a moment to cool down, I agree that speculating about motives without facts isn't particularly fruitful, and that facts may potentially make these initially hotheaded sentiments seem foolish over time.That said, if it had been me that had drawn that map with the crosshairs on it, there would be a fucking SWAT team kicking down my door right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LugaJetboyGirl Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I remember an attempt that didn't go anywhere in 2008 on Obama by some white supremacists. It was busted up in the planning stage IIRC.Yes, there was that guy who was building a dirty bomb to use on Obama in 2008. Time magazine had an article on it a few months back. The FBI and everybody totally missed the guy and didn't believe he was a real threat. But his wife, Amber Cummings, who he had beaten for years, knew exactly what he was doing. So she shot and killed him. The judge ruled it self-defense and she walked free.I still don't understand why this woman hasn't been more resoundingly lauded as an American hero, because in my books she sure is one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brude Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 There were also to white supremacist types who had a pretty harebrained scheme to try and shoot him with a high powered rifle while he was giving his nomination address in Denver, but they were mostly just a couple of yahoos who had no real means of doing it, as I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodRider Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 6 others reported dead, a dozen injured. It's a mass murder (in addition to an assassination).Its also a terrorist act.i want to hope it is too early to lay the blame at the feet of the tea party movement.Yes, remember the census worker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Greguh Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Here's a clip of Giffords talking about a recent attack on her office where she specifically brings up the Palin crosshair graphic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sad King Billy Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Surgeon in a press conference says that Giffords is alive, that the neurosurgeons were finished with their operation, and that they are optimistic for a recovery.Says the wound was a through-and-through to the temple.Any medical types in here who can tell what the best/worst case scenario is for a shot of this type (this is assuming hoping she pulls through)? From wikipedia it seems it's the area of the brain concerned with reward and planning. Or is it likely the bullet hit bone but nothing major? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser_not_appearing_yet Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 The most likely option here is that the guy is just batshit crazy. I'm not sure arguing about Sarah Palin is needed tbh.If he's an Afghan veteran then other issues should be discussed, like psychological treatment for vets.Hope she pulls through. Horrible news about the kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Greguh Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 The most likely option here is that the guy is just batshit crazy. I'm not sure arguing about Sarah Palin is needed tbh.If he's an Afghan veteran then other issues should be discussed, like psychological treatment for vets.Hope she pulls through. Horrible news about the kid.The guy being batshit crazy and there being a political motive for the shooting motivated by inflammatory rhetoric are not the least bit mutually exclusive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser_not_appearing_yet Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 The guy being batshit crazy and there being a political motive for the shooting motivated by inflammatory rhetoric are not the least bit mutually exclusive.Its a longshot, and even if true is debatable when it comes to culpability. Insane people interpret things completely differently to sane people.You could be right, but I think we should chill untill we receive more information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commodore Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Wow I went to the library thinking she had died, come back home to find she is alive. Just goes to show the drawbacks of our instant information age. How the hell did they get that wrong?The fact that someone kills in the name of some belief doesn't invalidate those beliefs. The guy was upset about literacy rates(!) and currency, does that mean people who protest literacy rates and currency devaluation are fanning the flames of violence? Of course not. Now, if someone was encouraging him to act violently, that's another matter. People want to use actions of individuals to invalidate the views they espouse, when often the two are unrelated. I did not vote for Gabby, but there is a reason she was able to win in 2010 despite casting some less than popular votes. She is a standup person of high character who has always made herself available to constituents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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